CANNES, France (Reuters) – “Parasite”, a suspenseful dark comedy about class struggles directed by South Korea’s Bong Joon-Ho, won the top Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.
72nd Cannes Film Festival – Closing ceremony – Cannes, France, May 25, 2019. Director Bong Joon-ho, Palme d’Or award winner for his film “Parasite” (Gisaengchung), reacts. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
The award adds to a successful run at the French cinema showcase for Asian films after Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda clinched the prestigious gong last year.
Bong, who made his mark at Cannes in 2017 with Netflix-produced “Okja”, set his latest movie in modern South Korea.
It follows a down-on-their-luck family of four who spot an opportunity to con a wealthy household into giving them jobs.
They worm their way into the other family’s lives – before things start going south.
This year’s Cannes film festival also shone a light on newcomers, in an unusually crowded field.
“Atlantics”, a ghost story about migrants directed by Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, won the runner-up Grand Prix award.
The movie, based on her 2009 short documentary, was Diop’s first feature-length film.
Spain’s Antonio Banderas won the male acting prize for his role as a tortured filmmaker in Pedro Almodovar’s loosely biographical “Pain And Glory” – one of the films that had been tipped for the top honor.
Britain’s Emily Beecham was crowned best actress after starring in Jessica Hausner’s “Little Joe” as a botanist who starts having doubts about her latest genetically-modified creation when it begins to affect her loved ones.
Reporting by Sarah White, Editing by Inti Landauro